Family Safety Week 2018: Take Extra Steps...

The tragic news last month highlighted a real need for the blinds and shutter industry to continue educating and informing people of the dangers a blind can pose.

In March it was announced that the cause of death for a 17-month-old boy was ‘asphyxia due to the lift cord attached to the rear of a Roman Blind.’

The young boy was in his cot in his family’s home in Dublin, Ireland, in December 2016. He was found unresponsive and upright in his cot by his grandmother.

The incident is harrowing and disturbing and is truly something that should never happen again. As an industry we take measures to ensure the safety of our products, but we should not slow in the way we help to inform those who are unaware. If you have a chance to explain how the safety devices on a blind can help save a child’s life, do it.

Whilst Yewdale doesn’t supply Roman Blinds, the sentiment remains the same: all types of chain or cord operated blind poses some degree of risk to children if the correct safety steps are not followed.

We cannot comment directly on the sad case of the young boy because we were not there nor involved in any way, but we hope the news travels far and wide to alert people to the potential hazards.

This Family Safety Week we urge all of our customers to alert their clients to the risks if they feel a blind will be in a space used by children. Our shading solutions are installed in schools, hospitals, libraries and homes, and it is important that the client understand the necessary safety measures the systems come with.

Likewise, we would like to draw our customers’ attention to our child safe alternatives. Whilst all our blinds have child safety features incorporated, such as breakaway chains, p-clips, cleats and chain tidies, we also offer systems that pose no risk at all.

Crank-operated roller blinds, for example, can remove the risk simply because there are no cords. The crank handle can even be removed. A motorised electric blind has no dangling cords, with the key components hidden inside the barrel of the blind. Again, a spring blind removed the risk of a child getting caught up in the cords simply because a braked spring is used to raise and lower the blind.

Now, we understand that this information is probably common knowledge among our customers. We feel the need to bring this discussion up in aid of ROSPA’s Family Safety Week 2018, but also to try in any way to prevent another tragedy similar to that in Ireland, from occurring again.

As an industry we should keep working to raise awareness of the potential risks a blind can pose if the correct safety measures are ignored. A blind is no more dangerous than a bath, a lamp or a chest of drawers in a family home, just as long as it is treated with respect and safely installed.

So please, educate your clients on the simple safety measures that come with our systems. Please familiarise yourself with our range of ultra-safe systems, removing the risk of another terrible by removing chains and cords from the environment.

Thank you for reading and please let us know in the comments below your thoughts on other ways we can better inform members of the public on the importance of utilising all of the safety features a blind is sold with.